Happy New Year, and Happy News!

Our rainbow baby is due in March!

I’m not one to toxic-positivity 2021 (if that’s even a verb). But while it’s not fair to expect this year to be drastically different than 2020, we are expecting something pretty darn awesome.

On top of a global pandemic and a national reckoning with racial injustice and other institutional failures, 2020 was also a personal rollercoaster, as I’m sure it was for millions of others. Here’s a quick little breakdown of what my year looked like:

• February 2020: I learned that my good friend and Conscious Company CEO was stepping down from her role to take some much needed time for herself. This validated my feeling that it was time for me to move on soon after… although it happened differently than I planned.
• March 5, 2020: The first confirmed COVID-19 cases appeared in Colorado.
• March 10, 2020: The Colorado governor declared a state of emergency.
• March 17, 2020: I learned that I was pregnant!
• March 18, 2020: I was laid off from Conscious Company (because of the virus, a slew of the company’s revenue-generating in-person events had become giant question marks).
• May 4, 2020: At my first prenatal appointments (at 10 weeks along), I learned that the embryo had stopped growing around 7 weeks and did not have a heartbeat. Because of the coronavirus, Nick was not able to be with me at this appointment.
• May 11, 2020: I elected to have a D&C procedure to remove the pregnancy. I learned such a valuable lesson from this loss: To allow people to be there for me. I was astounded by the amount of friends and family who reached out and sent gifts or notes. It helped me to heal quickly and realize I was not alone; many other people had been through this, too.
• July 1, 2020: After three months of unemployment, I started my new job as Digital Editor, Fine Arts of ArtistsNetwork.com!
• July 2, 2020: I learned that I was pregnant again! Ah! This was exciting and terrifying!
• July to now: The first trimester was emotionally exhausting. We had a few scares. I dealt with a lot of anxiety. My therapist was a huge help throughout it all. Also, Nick has been teaching 100% remotely from our basement since March, which has been incredibly challenging for him as a teacher (and as a human) for too many reasons to list.

Despite our cabin fever and my inability to drink wine, we’ve made the best of a tough situation (but not without a lot of privilege). And somehow, it’s January 2021. Where did this past year go? I’m 30 weeks pregnant. And there are just 10 weeks left before our baby arrives. Eek!

We can’t wait to meet her. We can’t wait to see how much Harper loves her little sister. And we can’t wait to embark on many more unpredictable years together. For now, we’re nesting like crazy, trying to stay in touch with friends and family from afar, and soaking up the last few weeks of childlessness before everything changes.

Happy New Year, folks. ❤